At €110 million, Is Pogba worth a player keeping?

At the start of Euro 2016,the question on everybody’s minds was Will Paul Pogba stay? If not, where will he end up? Pogba’s agent Mino Raiola isn’t famous for for ensuring prolonging his clients’ stay at clubs. It was inevitable that Pogba would eventually move on from Juventus some day. Barcelona and Real Madrid were touted as the most likeliest of options for Pogba.

At €110 million, Is Pogba worth a player keeping?

Both were a step-up from Juventus but the latest rumours pouring in have linked the midfielder with a move to his old stomping ground Manchester United. And for a world record fee of €110 million shattering the earlier one set by Gareth Bale’s transfer to Real Madrid. While the Juve faithful may be concerned seeing the prospect of their best player leaving, the question that begs to be answered is: For €110 million, is Pogba worth keeping?

Ater the departure of Arturo Vidal,Andrea Pirlo and Carlos Tevez, Pogba took the No 10 shirt vacated by Tevez. The iconic jersey had been worn by some big names in the Juve history before.After initial struggle, Paul Pogba was able to do justice to the jersey in his first season with it. 12 goals and 14 assists helped Turin based club clinch a domestic double, a feat incomprehensible at the start of the season.

Trickery, skill and solidity, the midfielder displayed everything while carrying the hopes of Juve fans while Paulo Dybala was slowly starting to come into his own.Those contributions are no doubt commendable but to attribute those numbers to deem him irreplaceable is only focusing on one side of the story.The new arrival from AS Roma Miralem Pjanic recorded 10 goals and 14 assists last season for the Giallorossi helping them secure the third position.

Of course statistics don’t tell the whole story but they do point to the fact that if Bianconeri were to lose the Frenchman, they already have an able replacement in Pjanic.In addition to Sami Khedira and Claudio Marchisio, the defensive aspect of Juve would not lose much of its sheen.The midfield would be affected no doubt but the money freed up from Pogba’s sale would help the Old Lady of Turin land one player, a potential gamechanger: Gonzalo Higuain.

The defense is more or less settled and with the addition of Mehdi Benatia on a loan deal will give manager Massimiliano Allegri much needed cover for Barzagli, Bonucci and Chiellini. In the right back side, slotting Dani Alves is another valuable addition to provide them with experience to triumph at European stage. The midfield options have been secured but if there’s one area that needs attention,it’s the attack.

Last season, Dybala’s prolific form in front of the goal was responsible for Juve’s resurgence.Apart from the Argentine, Alvaro Morata, Mario Mandzukic and Simone Zaza offered little threat. His injury which ruled him out of the second leg tie against Bayern Munich in champions League was a case in point.None of the other three are a match for the abilities of Dybala. The addition of Higuain then assumes greater significance. He nearly dragged Napoli to the title via his record-breaking goalscoring exploits that rewrote history.

Napoli are not a team filled with an array of talent that will convert his goals into trophies. With the exception of Marek Hamsik, Higuain would be better served playing for a top class team with world-class players. Players who could give him the chance to win trophies to show for his records. And Juventus are certainly the team.For Juventus, the signing of Higuain would take them in the Top-4 of European clubs, a claim by Allegri which is not completely correct at present.Thus, Juventus minus Pogba would be a team weakened but a Juve plus Higuain would be marginally more formidable than the former option.

Pogba would eventually move on. The sum involved though, can be a game-changing prospect for both him and Juventus.